Conventional feminine absorbent articles designed to absorb body fluids, including menses, can generally be grouped into three categories. The first category includes absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins and pantiliners which are worn externally about the pudendal area. Sanitary napkins are generally designed for heavy flow use while pantiliners are thinner than sanitary napkins and are generally designed for light or low menstrual flow. Because sanitary napkins and pantiliners are worn between the wearer's thighs, normal physical movement by the wearer, such as walking, bending, twisting, etc., can cause the article to shift from its original position protecting the vulvar area and can also cause discomfort, such as by rubbing or chafing in the sensitive vulvar area. In addition, such articles have a relatively high degree of wearing awareness, i.e., the article can be apparent when worn with tight-fitting clothing, including slacks, body suits, swim suits, or similarly thin or close-fitting garments. While pantiliners have a smaller (e.g., thinner) profile than sanitary napkins to provide a less obtrusive appearance and more comfortable fit, the thin profile pantiliners are still susceptible to undesired shifting or other movement during normal usage which can result in soiling of the wearer's clothing.
Tampons, another category of feminine absorbent articles, are configured for disposition within the vaginal cavity to intercept and retain menstrual flow. Some tampons may not function correctly to prevent leakage because radial expansion of the tampon within the vaginal cavity may not form a perfect seal with the cavity wall.
Labial pads, also referred to as interlabial pads, represents a third and more recently studied category of feminine absorbent articles. Labial pads are generally configured for disposition between a woman's labia majora and extend at least partially into the vestibule of a female wearer. As such, labial pads are considered to be less obtrusive and can be designed to generally seal against the wearer to prevent liquid against flowing past the labial pad.
There is a need, however, to further develop labial pads having improved liquid intake and rewet performance characteristics as well as improved saturation and retention capacity characteristics. Intake performance refers generally to the ability of the absorbent article to rapidly accept fluid into the absorbent article and away from the wearer. It is meaningful to measure liquid intake performance with repeated insults thereby measuring the time it takes for each insult to be taken into the absorbent article. Rewet performance generally refers to the ability of the absorbent article to inhibit previously taken-in liquid against flowing back out through the article when a compressive load is applied thereto, such as during normal activity including walking, sitting, twisting, bending, etc. The purpose of improving intake performance is to reduce the tendency of the absorbent article to leak or otherwise fail to take in exuded liquid during gushes of liquid. A fast intake time corresponds with low residence time of liquid on the outer surface of the article which in turn reduces the likelihood of leakage. Lower rewet corresponds with reduced surface wetness which can improve wearer comfort and helps promote skin health. However, there is generally considered to be an inverse relationship between the intake performance and the rewet performance of absorbent structures.